Towcester Town Hall
Towcester Town Hall
LocationWatling Street, Towcester
Coordinates52°07′55″N 0°59′18″W / 52.1319°N 0.9882°W / 52.1319; -0.9882
Built1866
ArchitectThomas Heygate Vernon
Architectural style(s)Italianate style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameTown Hall
Designated19 August 1976
Reference no.1371643
Towcester Town Hall is located in Northamptonshire
Towcester Town Hall
Shown in Northamptonshire

Towcester Town Hall is a municipal building in Watling Street, Towcester, Northamptonshire, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Towcester Town Council, is a grade II listed building.[1]

History

After significant population growth during the early 19th century associated with the town's role as a coaching stop on Watling Street,[2] a turnpike road which had been paved by the engineer, Thomas Telford, local businessmen decided to form a company to develop a town hall and corn exchange: the site chosen was a prominent location in the market place which clearly defined its southern boundary.[3]

The foundation stone for the building was laid by the Earl of Pomfret, who lived at Easton Neston house, on 8 September 1865.[1] It was designed by Thomas Heygate Vernon in the Italianate style, built by John Wheeler with ashlar masonry and was completed in 1866.[4][5] It was constructed using Bath stone, with contrasting bands of Duston stone.[6] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Chantry Lane; the central bay, which slightly projected forward, featured a round headed doorway flanked by pilasters and brackets supporting a stone parapet; there were two small rounded headed sash windows separated by a colonette and flanked by pilasters on the first floor and a carved pediment above.[1] The outer bays featured two large round headed sash windows separated by pilasters on the ground floor and three small rounded headed windows separated by colonettes on the first floor.[1] The design was modified at a late stage to include a clock tower at roof level with a zinc-clad belfry, (the addition of a clock having been made possible through subscription donations from 'the ladies of Towcester and the neighbourhood').[6] The clock was made by Moore & Sons of Clerkenwell,[7] but (as was not unusual at the time) appears to have been credited to a local clockmaker: Arthur Garrett of Towcester (whose name is visible just below the face of the clock). Internally, the principal room was the public hall;[1] there was also a working men's reading room, a working men's coffee room and several offices, as well as a shop and a private residence.[6]

On 29 March 1880 the clock tower and part of the surrounding roof were destroyed by a fire;[8] following rebuilding a new clock and bell were provided by Gillett, Bland & Co.[9]

After further growth and improved connections following the opening of Towcester railway station in April 1866,[10] the area was designated a rural district in 1894.[11] The building continued to serve as the headquarters of the local rural district council for much of the 20th century[12] and remained the local seat of government after the enlarged South Northamptonshire Council was formed in 1974.[13][14]

After South Northamptonshire Council decided to relocate to modern and more substantial promises nearby, the town hall became the responsibility of the parish council in 1983.[15] The parish council was superseded by Towcester Town Council which established offices in the town hall and subsequently used the building as its meeting place.[16] Although the committee room on the ground floor was leased out to estate agents, Bartram & Co. in January 2018,[17] the public hall has continued to be used for concerts and community events.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Historic England. "Town Hall (1371643)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  2. ↑ Sunderland, John (1998). "The History of Towcester". Milton Keynes Heritage. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  3. ↑ "Towcester: conservation area appraisal". South Northamptonshire Council. July 2012. p. 12. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  4. ↑ Giggins, Brian (1 November 2019). "Towcester Guide". Towcester Town Council. p. 12. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  5. ↑ The British Almanac. Knight & Co. 1867. p. 168.
  6. 1 2 3 "Provincial News". The Builder. XXIV (1210): 273. 14 April 1866.
  7. ↑ Pickford, Chris, ed. (1995). Turret Clocks: Lists of Clocks from Makers' Catalogues and Publicity Materials (2nd ed.). Wadhurst, E. Sussex: Antiquarian Horological Society. p. 35.
  8. ↑ "Jottings". The British Architect and Northern Engineer. XIII: 166. 2 April 1880.
  9. ↑ Pickford, Chris, ed. (1995). Turret Clocks: Lists of Clocks from Makers' Catalogues and Publicity Materials (2nd ed.). Wadhurst, E. Sussex: Antiquarian Horological Society. p. 85.
  10. ↑ Jenkins, Stanley C. (1990). The Northampton & Banbury Junction Railway. Headington, Oxford: Oakwood Press. p. 18. ISBN 0-85361-390-7.
  11. ↑ "Towcester RD". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  12. ↑ "No. 45242". The London Gazette. 3 December 1970. p. 13238.
  13. ↑ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
  14. ↑ "No. 46391". The London Gazette. 1 November 1974. p. 10525.
  15. ↑ "Towcester Town in Drawings". Towcester and District Local History Society. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  16. ↑ "Council Meeting Agenda" (PDF). Towcester Town Council. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  17. ↑ "Premises Committee Meeting Agenda" (PDF). Towcester Town Council. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  18. ↑ "Towcester Town Hall, with Towcester Choral Society and guests". Oxford Welsh Male Voice Choir. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
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